Introduction: Leopard Gecko Shelf

What did you make?   Where did you make it?

I got the idea for this project from some other websites. My Leopard geckos needed something to climb on, so I thought I would make a shelf. After working on it some, I decided to make it into an Instructable. I made this Instructable at home in my garage with my dad.

How did you make it?

I made it from simple materials at home with my father’s tools and input. Detailed instructions are below.

What did you learn?

I learned how to mud and spray paint. I’m proudest of the fact that I designed and made this shelf all by myself.  I am also proud that I have provided a shelf for my geckos to climb on.

Step 1: Materials

The materials you will need are as follows:

Some Crafting or packing foam
Whatever brand of mud(joint compound) you want(Optional)
A sharp utility knife or an equivalent
A can of Mod Podge
A can of Elmer’s glue spray
Some clamps
Whatever kind of spray paint you want

Step 2: Cutting

Start by cutting out the back wall of the shelf. For this whole project I didn't really cut it to any particular size or dimension. I just cut it till it looked good. After cutting out the back wall, start to cut out the shelves and cut notches into it to hold the shelves. The notches don’t have to be super deep, just enough that the shelves can’t fall out.

Cut out a support to hold up the topmost shelf and a notch on the bottom of the top shelf. Make sure you cut the support tall enough so that the bottom of the support is level with the bottom of the back of the shelf.(I didn't so I had to cut another support to go under the first one)

Step 3: Gluing

Spray the glue into the holes and clamp them, leave them like that for about a
day.

Step 4: (Optional) Mudding

After gluing all the shelves onto the back you start mudding it. mudding is optional, it just depends on if you want the shelf to feel rough or not. You could also use it to fill in the cracks if you are doing some serious cutting and want it to look really pretty. I don’t know if it was just the brand I got, but the mud would get flaky and come off so I put two layers on instead of one.

Step 5: Spray Painting

You will want to put on at least two layers. Follow the instructions on the back of your can so you will know how long you should wait between layers.

Step 6: Spraying on the Sealant

After you are satisfied with the paint job and the paint is dry, you spray on the Mod Podge. You will want to put on about three coats of it since when you spray each layer on you won’t cover all of it so you will only really have about one and a half layers.